6 of ISC’s young players have been named in England U20s 32-man Elite Player Squad for the 2018/19 season.

James Dun (Bristol Bears), Kai Owen (Worcester Warriors), James Scott (Worcester Warriors), Ollie Fox (Yorkshire Carnegie), Tom Hardwick (Leicester Tigers), and Ollie Hassell-Collins (London Irish) have all been named in the squad, which will compete in the 2019 Six Nations as well as the World Rugby U20 Championship in Argentina, will be led by Steve Bates and Jim Mallinder.

England U20s open their Six Nations campaign against Ireland at the Irish Independent Park in Cork on Friday 1 February (KO 19.15 GMT).

The side then take on France on Saturday 9 February at Sandy Park (KO 12.05 GMT), home of Exeter Chiefs, live on Sky Sports.

The U20s next head to the ZipWorld Stadium, Colwyn Bay to face Wales on Friday 22 February (KO 19.05 GMT), live on S4C, before a second home fixture of the tournament with the side playing against Italy on Friday 8 March at Bedford Blues’ Goldington Road (19.45 GMT), live on Sky Sports.

Their final fixture of the Six Nations will be against Scotland on Friday 15 March at Northampton Saints’ Franklin’s Gardens (19.45 GMT), live on Sky Sports.

The 2019 World Rugby U20 Championship will be held in May/June.

‘A difficult task’

“Selecting the 32-player squad was a very difficult task which reflects the quality of the group,” said Bates.

“We have several players with Premiership experience and that speaks volumes of how good they are. The expectation for us now is to raise the standard and quality of performance from last season’s group and for the players to continue to develop in this environment.